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Some four seasons ago, a young(er) James Ford sat on the beach of a shipwrecked island, passing the time by reading an unpublished manuscript he had found among the strewn about luggage.

The manuscript, Bad Twin, was written by fellow Oceanic passenger Gary Troup. You may recognize Troup as the unfortunate soul who was sucked into the turbine in the chaotic few moments of the television series Lost.

Troup, obviously, is no longer with us, but thanks to Bad Twin, his legacy lives on. Sort of.

Bad Twin was a meta, semi-canonical attempt at expanding the ‘Lostverse’ that was published in the summer of 2006. Was it successful? Not really. Was it good? Kind of.

After hearing that it’s association with the show was tenuous at best, I avoided “Bad Twin” for a few years. Not helping was the fact that I associated it with the “Lost Experience” – a convoluted, semi canonical, alternate reality game that I couldn’t explain to you if I wanted to. Neither seemed worth my time.

That was before the end was nigh. About a third of the way into this final season run, the reality that our time was almost up started to sink in. I had already seen all the seasons, and the creators officially stated there would be no spin offs after the series was over. I wanted more. And unless I wanted to watch a bunch of boring, low budget viral videos featuring characters I have never heard of before, I had to check out “Bad Twin.”

Let me just start off by saying that “Bad Twin” was not written by any ‘Lost’ staff writers. The book was ghost written by novelist Laurence Shames, who was given notes of elements to include by the shows creative team. According to a quote from ‘Variety’, however, “the author had his own vision and wound up including only a few of the elements.”

It’s true. The book contains no island, Hurley, or four-toed statues, but a few things do get a shout out: the Widmore family (although none of their first names are familiar), the Hanso Corporation, Paik Industries, Oceanic Airlines, and Mr. Cluck’s Chicken Shack. Although the Widmore clan is the centerpiece of the story, most of the other elements are mentioned in passing.

“Bad Twin” is basically a detective story about a private investigator hired by one “good” Widmore twin to find his missing, “bad” twin brother. Cliff Widmore, the “good” twin, is ostensibly a clean, put together businessman who wants to follow in his fathers foot steps and take control of the family dynasty. Xander, the missing “bad” twin, is described as a wayward, prodigal son whose life may be in danger.

Sound kind of familiar? Now, this book came out between the 2nd and 3rd season, so it should be considered solid evidence that the creators had at least a general idea of the island’s underlying mythology and were not “making it up as they were going along.” The book even contains a reference to Jacob and Essau, a biblical story that really didn’t start making serious rounds in Lost discussions until the end of its 5th season.

In fact, the book contains literary reference upon literary reference, covering everything from Gilgamesh to Lord of the Flies. Before I ever got into the series, my initial concern was that I didn’t want to waste all this time in this fictional universe. I pegged Lost as a mere genre distraction. As it got going, however, I was impressed with its use of religious, philosophical, historical, and mythological themes. The use of these elements inspired me to do further research of the subject on my own time, making me honestly able to say that ‘Lost’ has enriched my life more than I ever could have imagined. In this respect, ‘Bad Twin’ delivers, shining light on a lot of the shows themes, even spelling them out for those who need it sometimes (I do).

The most significant reference to me was regarding the detective novel, Trent’s Last Case. The story is a mystery with a solution that appears to have been reached half way through the novel. The solution turns out to be erroneous, and the 2nd half of the novel is spent rearranging the facts and clues until the correction solution is reached. This reference parallels the character arc of Xander Widmore, a not-so-bad twin who just wanted to get away from the hullabaloo of the family fortune and dedicate his life to charity and spirituality. Half of life, the book implies, is spent acquiring material wealth and becoming successful. Many think this is the ultimate end game, like the detective in Trent’s Last Case coming to a false conclusion. Once this success is reached, one can start feeling empty, as if he arrived to the wrong solution. The 2nd half of life, then, is spent letting go of all that you’ve acquired, bringing the circle of life to a close.

This theme is even further mirrored in the Lost castaways story thus far. They come to island like babies out of the womb, scared and confused of their new surroundings. As they proceed, they adopt many philosophies and styles of leadership to get them through, shifting allegiences and world views when need be. All of us do this in our lives, albeit on a much less epic scale. Half way through the series, the castaways finally reach their intended goal by getting off the island. Only, it wasn’t what they thought it would be. Like a filthy rich CEO who made his fortune on genocide, it didn’t feel right. They had to “go BAAAACK.” Now, here we are, back, and ready to put the pieces together in the right order. What is that order and what are the creators trying to say? I don’t know yet, but that’s why I watch Lost.

Some like hiking only in the winter, through the heavy squeaky snow, some like the spring hikes when the sun doesn’t burn that much, some like hiking even when the summer sun burns in the middle of the day.

No matter your preference on hikes, if you tried winter trails and summer trails equally so far, you should know that some rules apply only for summer hiking. For a beginner, it might seem that the hiking boots mean the world on a summer hike. Nevertheless, you can go ahead and check one of the best selections on women's hiking boots here. For an experienced hiker, it’s obvious by now that, in order to have a good summer hike, some rules need to be followed.

On a summer hike, it’s common to get carried away, to pace up the rhythm and not pay attention to all the rocks or ponds you meet. Therefore, ankle spray occur quite often when summer hiking. Take good care when you climb down the rocky trails, especially if you are tired- the risk raises. To avoid this type of incident, use a cane that helps a lot when the trail gets more complicated.

Get a good pair of boots when summer hiking. Adapted to the rocky trails, the boots should feature a thick sole, non slippery, ideally it should be shock proof, comfortable, slim and high enough to give support to the foot and leg. Go for mid boots, one size bigger that the usual- your feet might get swollen. It’s more than obvious that cotton socks should be used when summer hiking.

It’s better to be safe than sorrow, right? Prevent therefore the aches and muscular pains by not forcing yourself over the limits when summer hiking. Go slowly, especially in the first half of hour.

There is a good posture and a good walk that should be embraced when summer hiking. Even though you have your own rhythm, find it first without „stealing” it from your hiking pals. Stand up straight, rise yourself by keeping your shoulders low and suck your belly in .Avoid as much as you can to arch yourself.

Since you swing your arms a lot to keep the rhythm with your legs, keep your belly contracted to avoid having your torso balancing from wright to left.

Concentrate on your breathe. As you move, it should be thoracic as this holds the abdominal belt contracted and protects your bottom.

No summer hiking should be happening without water. Hydrate yourself regularly –you do need a constant water supply. Bring on your summer hiking dry fruits, cereal bars to boost up your energy on the trail.

Take care at the mountain sickness. Once you went up the 200m altitude, this sickness might appear. You may get a headache, feel breathless and very tired as well. If you go through any of these signs, you must stop immediately and climb down.

Even though some enjoy summer hiking alone, avoid doing it by yourself. Take your team mates, your friends, spread the word about your hiking trails and take a mobile phone with you. Hiking alone is only for the best experienced hikers!

Some pieces of advice:

Many people overestimate their physical ability - because they think that if they can walk, they can go hiking.

Do not engage in a difficult hike (long, physically demanding, isolated, etc.) with individuals with whom you have not hiked before - even if they are longtime friends or acquaintances. I advise you to first test the group on an easier hike. People have very different perceptions in relation to their abilities.

It is necessary to adapt the difficulty of the route to the physical condition and individual experience, do not overestimate yourself.

It is essential to identify the specific difficulties of the route such as the rivers to cross, the steep passages to climb...

If you have little experience, do a lot of planning ahead.

Always base the pace of the hike on the pace of the slowest person in the group.

The length of the hike can be estimated based on the distance only for easy trails and at low altitude.